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Many have nothing to do, trying their hand at new projects or activities

A local urgent care doctor said those great ideas don't always go as planned.

Author: Alicia Summers (Reporter)

Published: 5:50 PM PDT April 29, 2020

Updated: 5:50 PM PDT April 29, 2020

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Many people are taking on new hobbies or household projects during the stay-at-home order. One San Diego doctor said that sometimes, these projects don't go as planned.

"We have seen a lot of patients who have had injuries at home, but haven't seen other injuries from sports-related activities and fewer people are injured at work," said Dr. Daniel Smith, an urgent care doctor at Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group.

Urgent care doctors and emergency room nurses said the home injures they see are from people taking on new hobbies, like skateboarding or riding a bike. Do-it-your self projects are also a big culprit.

"The home injuries are people using power equipment themselves because they can't get a contractor out to their house," said Smith.

Smith has also seen his fair share of gardening accidents from people using tools they don't usually use.

On the other hand, Smith said overall urgent care visits are down significantly.

"We've seen at least a 50%-60% drop in patient volume," said Smith.

Smith attributes the decrease to people being less active.

"When people are mostly watching Netflix, they are less likely to get injured and infected than in a non-pandemic world," said Smith.

Smith added that many are worried about being exposed to COVID-19 and are staying home if not seriously ill.

"There's also fewer infectious diseases overall because there is much less social contact. There's no school, so the kids are not getting strep throat and typical colds as much and other respiratory illnesses that we would normally see are down," said Smith.